Calculating Special Assessments

The cost of special assessments varies by the type of project as well as the size of the project area. The city has an Infrastructure Funding Policy that outlines how much of a project's costs are assessed to property owners and also caps that amount for certain types of projects. Some of the current city caps are:

Water main replacement: $40/front foot

Sewer main replacement: $40/front foot

Reconstruction of local street in single-family zoning: $75/front foot

Reconstruction of collector street in single family zoning: $75/front foot

Reconstruction of local street in multi-family zoning: $188/front foot

Reconstruction of local street in Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional zoning districts: $188/front foot

Reconstruction of local street in DMU, Arterials with Retail, Sales, and Service zoning districts: $250/front foot

The method of determining the total amount of a property owner's special assessment can be complicated. It includes several factors: prior benefit, front foot or square foot cost, type of project, and whether or not any additional funding source is available.

Here's a simple example: If the "front foot cost" for a particular project is $50 (ex. street reconstruction), a person who owns a 50'x140' lot would have a special assessment of $2,500. If the special assessment was set at $.07/square foot (ex. storm water retention), the special assessment would be $490.